bobtail44

I want to buy this and the index of Japanese swords that you wrote but I can't find a copy that will ship to me. Can I just buy both books directly from you? Cheers, Trent S

That blade looks great, Id go with that Trent S

I have seen a lot of what you want go through ebay. It will also cost you a lot less than 5k there. Might be worth searching for a few months. Trent S

I see so there can be 3d inclusions that fall out during polishing. I only considered blisters. cheers Trent S

Sounds great in theory. In reality, it is quite a bit different... It was meant to be inspiring I agree with you. Trent S

Im so curious to know what made that hole. Is it a perfect circle and does it look melted into the blade? Can we get more close ups or the hole? cheers Trent S

I thought that the blade shape at the end was just due to the sheet? Could be wrong though I love the sniper button :D :D :D 5-6k for a polish???? rubbish! Who says you need to send it to Japan to get a shirasaya and koshire Japan isn't the only place that you can get quality items made. My interest is in blades only. I think that it is wakizashi length. Ill play, I think it will go for 1900. I think it could have been much lower had it not appeared here. If it doesn't go very cheap I don't want it anyway. I was just buying it for a laugh because treasure huntings fun Trent S

Some people don't have sword shows to go to. Im very thankful for ebay/online auction sites, because I have been able to purchase certain swords through auction with current nbthk papers for under $2000 dollars that I would have never been able to afford from a dealer a couple of years ago when I first started collecting. My collection and ability to trade, buy and sell from others was greatly accelerated by ebay and online buying. I have been able to supply friends in martial arts and new collectors with very cheap blades that they would have never been able to afford from websites like aoi art. (which has beautiful blades btw ) I have never been burned on ebay, sure ive sent several swords back and it has cost me a few hundred dollars shipping. But that is better than being charged double the auction value through certain dealers every single purchase with no hope of ever recovering the paid price. I still think that without education you can be burned anywhere and with education you can be successful in places that others aren't. As I have said before, I watch ebay and I know certain dealers get on there to look for stock. If they can figure it out then so can you. I have roughly a dozen nihonto at the moment and only started collecting a couple of years ago. My favorite blade is still a 900 dollar long wakizashi that I won bidding on from a US vets family from ebay. I had another collector offer me $2000 dollars for it last year. Trent S

I didn't have a clue what it said I just like the shape xD I was looking for a great blade to get polished and mount, could be it Trent S

Im bidding on it. Trent S

I think now it will go for a higher price than if you had of kept it quiet. id sure like to send that for a polish. Trent S

Met them last year hopefully they show up. It is apparently sold out with a big waiting list so should be great. There was a great guy helping him sell swords who was really friendly and sold a leather covered gunto. He was great to talk to Ive put a lot of effort into the items im bringing this year so I hope people enjoy them. Its taken a year to collect and find enough stuff to display or sell. Ive even managed to get hold of a katana with a gold inlaid cutting test at the last minute and an experimental torpedo gyroscope from the minisub testing facility in Japan which was captured by allied forces . Im going to bring some great swords and sell them very cheap. Im taking dealer prices on them and cutting the price to sell to new collectors. Last time I sold four swords mainly gunto, this time they blades im bringing are MUCH MUCH better than those. :D im also open to trades ;D Trent S

Most of the best blades I have ever bought online were from sellers with a small amount of feedback who are trying to privately sell their collections. People are too scared to bid on them and you get the item for a steal. Every time Ive bought from an established dealer on on ebay I have been screwed somehow. Even down to winning bidding on an item from someone like kanetoyo2666 who will just refuse to sell it and cancel the sale if the item doesn't go high enough. The only bulk ebay seller who has been honest is imo komonjo and the fact that buyers swarm like flies over what he sells reflects that. Everything he sells is not junk either I can personally attest to that. As soon as you start buying tsuba or fittings from ebay you are asking for trouble because they seem to be very very easy to fake. I was just last week talking to a friend who bought what he thinks is a fake tsuba. We both couldn't even tell if it was just crap or fake. Its a problem because usually if you buy from a dealer you will pay a lot more than what it would cost at auction so you are paying for reputation. You are prob better off educating yourself so that you can tell the difference between real and fake so you can acquire items through the same avenues as dealers. I have personally seen blades that I was thinking about buying, bought at auctions/ebay then show up in a "reputable" dealers inventory. Then marked up at double or more than what was paid for the item. I won't mention names but id like to remove the myth that everything sold on ebay is junk. On the flip side many dealers are fantastic and very honest. I just encourage collectors to think for themselves and not assume because a dealer is on nmb that they are reliable or if the are on ebay they are automatically unreliable I buy blades/items of interest and mark them up slightly to cover my time and get my money back then sell them on purely for the enjoyment of it to people in person in WA to promote the hobby. It is a shame to see items on ebay that could go to a new collector snapped up and sold for ridiculous prices through an established store. Trent S

bump for next weekend Trent S

I thought that in the middle of the "mat" there is a piece of bamboo to simulate a bone? Obviously you wouldn't use an expensive nihonto to learn to test cut, im assuming he has some pre existing skill even if just for safety sake. Trent S

He is one of my all time favourite characters as well. I don't think he really changed much at all, you just learn more about him as it went on Bleach got me into nihonto tbh xD Trent S

If the blade develops hagire and nicks from occasional proper cutting of bamboo mats, then it isn't a very good blade. He originally intended to buy the blade for practical use as well as enjoying it aesthetically, so I was hoping peoples comments didn't put him off using it as he intended. I didn't mean to imply that blades from 1900 onwards are worthless, just that this one isn't an irreplaceable priceless antique that belonged to some Shogun and he should be scared to use it. If I bought that sword I would have cut more than paper with it when it was unwrapped Trent S

Three reasons: 1. Main reason is there are two tsuba there, not one 2. That is a paired daisho set. Stephen can attest to the difficulty in matching tsuba for creating a daisho 3. They're decent quality Ill admit my example was definitely a bad one, ill find a better one xD Trent S

It is recent, anything later than 1900's is recent imo. I say cut away! If later in life if he decides to polish it then im sure years of use will be fixed in one polish anyway. Great sword, your photos look way better than the ones from the dealer. Id be happy with that. Btw is your profile picture Aizen? Trent S

It's like why do people pay anywhere near $950 dollars for this tsuba or ones like it: http://www.ebay.com/itm/STRONG-18-19th- ... 7675.l2557 Makes no sense to me ;P Trent S

Would just like to say that I recently bought a sword from ED and was very happy with the entire transaction. Very honest seller and id like to recommend him to other potential buyers. Trent S

@ Bone It depends on what you want it for. When you asked that I thought you were trolling tbh Trent S

Ha ha :D Very good advice, I didn't consider the yellowing of the vanish over time. I guess it's going to be wrapped up in a box Trent S

Less desirable than what? Juyo level? Trent S

Sounds like good advice to me, thanks for that. Guess I can't put it on display with my blades like I wanted to because the room is sunny. Much appreciated, Trent S